CONVERSATIONS Lenten Studies. Luke 3:1-20 (NIV)

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1 Luke 3:1-20 (NIV) 1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one calling in the wilderness, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all people will see God s salvation. 7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptised by him, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The axe has been laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 10 What should we do then? the crowd asked. 11 John answered, Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same. 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptised. Teacher, they asked, what should we do? 13 Don t collect any more than you are required to, he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, And what should we do? He replied, Don t extort money and don t accuse people falsely be content with your pay. 15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them. 19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.

2 1 What jumps out from the passage for you? 2 List the people who encountered John the Baptist in this passage 3 List the things John has come to do and the things he is telling people to do. 4 What do you think were the thoughts going through John s head when The verses from Isaiah were read People came to him for baptism He was imprisoned by Herod? 5 Is the type of preaching seen here appropriate for our culture or do we need to adapt our message to suit our culture? 6 What should do we to do to evoke the response What shall we do then? Study Key - Groups of 3 with feedback to whole group - Full Group GPS / FB - Larger groups of 6 (if desired) with feedback to whole group

3 Matthew 4:1-11 (NIV) 1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. 4 Jesus answered, It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the highest point of the temple. 6 If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 7 Jesus answered him, It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test. 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. 9 All this I will give you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me. 10 Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. 1 What jumps off the page? What surprises you about this passage? 2 List all the places that are mentioned in this passage. 3 What do you think these places represent? 4 Name the choices that Satan offers to Jesus. 5 What types of temptation do these represent? 6 What are the places of temptation in our lives and what are the temptations in these places? 3s 7 What do we see in this passage that will help us make good choices? 3s

4 John 2:1-12 (NIV) 1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus mother said to him, They have no more wine. 4 Woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My hour has not yet come. 5 His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from eighty to a hundred and twenty litres. 7 Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water ; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now. 11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. 1 What jumps off the page? What surprises you about this passage? 2 List all the people who are involved in some way within this passage. 3 Identify all the different small scenes which contribute to the big scene. 4 What impact does Jesus' presence have on this wedding celebration? GPS / FB 5 What are the things we celebrate in our lives today? 6 How does being a Christian impact on how we join in celebrating these events?

5 Mark 8:27-38 (NIV) 27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, Who do people say I am? 28 They replied, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets. 29 But what about you? he asked. Who do you say I am? Peter answered, You are the Messiah. 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Get behind me, Satan! he said. You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father s glory with the holy angels. 1 What jumps off the page for you? 2 List the encouraging and discouraging things Jesus hears and says. 3 What sort of future do you think Jesus is expecting the disciples to face? 4 Where did this conversation take place? Where do our significant conversations take place? 5 How can we help prepare ourselves and others for the future?

6 Matthew 12:1-14 (NIV) 1 At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some ears of corn and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath. 3 He answered, Haven t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. 9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? 11 He said to them, If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. 13 Then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand. So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. 1 What jumps off the page for you? 2 List the people mentioned or implicated in the passage 3 What do you think would be the emotions of the people in this passage in each of the different scenes and their reactions to each other... Jesus and the disciples Jesus and the Pharisees Jesus and the man with shrivelled hand The Pharisees and the man with a shrivelled hand The disciples and the Pharisees 4 What is our reaction to people break the laws or deliberately do things that they know will annoy us? 5 Does the fact that we know that the good we want to do will annoy some people stop us doing the good and how do we overcome our fear of their reaction or their prejudice against the good we want to do?

7 Luke 9:28-37 (NIV) The Transfiguration 28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. (He did not know what he was saying.) 34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him. 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen. 37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 1 What jumps off the page for you? 2 List the actions. List the people taking part in this account. List the things described in this passage 3 Select one or two scenes and examine them more closely from the perspective of either Jesus or the disciples 4 When do you think we should keep quiet about what God has done and/ or is doing in our lives? When should we tell others? What dangers do you see in these different responses? 5 How does this vision of Jesus fit in with the view of Jesus in our culture/ church/college? Can we do anything to help others see this aspect of the character of Jesus?

8 John 12:1-8 (NIV) Jesus anointed at Bethany 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about half a litre of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 Why wasn t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year s wages. 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Leave her alone, Jesus replied. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. 1 What jumps off the page for you? 2 Name all the characters in this passage and their relationships. 3 If you were to make a film of this incident what are the scenes and what would you want to emphasize? 4 What do you think is the main point in this passage and how can we apply it to our own situation in today s church? 5 What are the challenges faced both personally and corporately that we can learn and implement from this passage